Socrates

August 22, 2011
In this brisk account of Socrates’ life, ideas, and era, written to be useful for contemporary readers, Johnson (Churchill) chronicles the rise and fall of Athens under Pericles and his successors, establishing both the context of Socrates’ influence and his motivations. “He saw that science, or the investigation of the external world, was for him, at least, unprofitable. But the investigation of the internal world of man was something he could do and wanted to do,” writes Johnson. Because Socrates himself did not record his thoughts, Johnson does well to summarize the writings of the philosopher’s admirers, acolytes, and rivals. The summary of the Socratic dialogue of Laches provides an admirably concise view of the philosopher’s methods and rhetorical tactics in exploring courage, moral purity, and mortality. Likewise, Johnson is able to deftly explain how Socrates’ dedication to Athenian ideals helped seal his fate as Athens spiraled into political and military decline and he was tried and convicted of “corrupting the young” of the city-state. In the end, when he drank hemlock under a death sentence, it was “his determination to uphold the dignity and sovereignty of Athenian law by submitting to it” that accounted for the end of a remarkable life whose influence remains central to the foundations of Western thought.

July 15, 2011

Acclaimed historian and biographer Johnson (Humorists: From Hogarth to Noel Coward, 2010, etc.) offers a short celebration of the life and influence of the Athenian philosopher.

An unapologetic fan, the author faces, as do all who write of distant times, the insurmountable problem of uncertainty. Socrates wrote nothing we know of, so we must rely on the records and testimony of others—generally a risky business. Johnson argues that Plato's dialogues are initially reliable, then less so as Plato became more fond of his own ideas. Johnson chides Plato repeatedly—even compares him with Victor Frankenstein—for putting into the mouth of Socrates words that more properly belonged in his own. At other times, the author resorts to phrases like "I suspect" and "I assume" to keep his argument flowing. Johnson highlights numerous Socratic principles, most notably the separation of the body and soul, Socrates' devotion to the law (he would not attempt to escape it, even when it meant his own safety), the immorality of revenge, the need to educate women and the corrosive desire to possess things. He notes that Socrates dearly loved Athens and Athenians, enjoyed wandering the streets and engaging people of all sorts in discussions about the meaning of apparently ordinary things. Socrates knew that clarity was essential in human discourse. Johnson also notes that Socrates' use of humor and irony were certain to be lost on many—and were techniques disastrous to his own defense at his trial. The author also points out similarities between ancient Athens and today—e.g., our love/hate relationships with celebrities.

A succinct, useful exploration of life in ancient Athens and of the great philosopher's essential beliefs.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)

August 1, 2011

The prolific Johnson (The Birth of the Modern) wants to rescue Socrates from the manipulations of Plato. He thinks Socrates was essentially a moral philosopher with little taste for unworldly metaphysics and a positive distaste for Plato's authoritarian politics. Johnson has his work cut out for him, for almost all we know about Socrates that doesn't come from Plato comes from a memoir by Xenophon and some satirical references in Aristophanes' Clouds. Johnson gives us a wonderfully readable account of life in Athens, its political quarrels, and its failures and makes sense of what we learn from Plato's earlier (more "Socratic") dialogs. He is good at explaining Socrates' disastrous defense in front of the Athenian jury. His Socrates is a "conservative radical" who sympathizes with popular religion, defends the individual, and understands human frailty, while his Plato is a "radical conservative" who espoused "absolutist dogma." VERDICT This is a charming book, much of it according with Gregory Vlastos's Socrates, the standard work. As good as a murder mystery, Johnson's narrative is exciting, but readers should remember that people who don't like Plato's metaphysics have been saying these things for 2500 years! [See Prepub Alert, 4/18/11.]--Leslie Armour, Dominican Univ. Coll., Ottawa

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

September 1, 2011
That Socrates should appeal to Johnson as the latest subject in his series of brief biographies won't surprise readers familiar with his opinion of intellectuals, a contempt that arraigns them for believing that ideas are more important than people. Always interested in talking to every Athenian, Socrates wasn't an abstract theorist like his amanuensis, Plato, but a moral philosopher who questioned how actual people behave and ought to behave in actual situations. Johnson places that posture of Socrates within his life's historical setting during the apogee of classical Athens, symbolized by the construction of the Parthenon, and then its precipitous fall in the Peloponnesian War. Unfortunately, the flesh-and-blood Socrates Johnson admires was altered by Plato in his Socratic dialogues in what Johnson calls one of the most unscrupulous acts in intellectual history. Advising his readers how to distinguish the real Socrates from Plato's is Johnson's central point. Delivered in his typically robust, confident manner, this work reconfirms Johnson as one of the most popular of popular historians.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)

July 15, 2011

Acclaimed historian and biographer Johnson (Humorists: From Hogarth to Noel Coward, 2010, etc.) offers a short celebration of the life and influence of the Athenian philosopher.

An unapologetic fan, the author faces, as do all who write of distant times, the insurmountable problem of uncertainty. Socrates wrote nothing we know of, so we must rely on the records and testimony of others--generally a risky business. Johnson argues that Plato's dialogues are initially reliable, then less so as Plato became more fond of his own ideas. Johnson chides Plato repeatedly--even compares him with Victor Frankenstein--for putting into the mouth of Socrates words that more properly belonged in his own. At other times, the author resorts to phrases like "I suspect" and "I assume" to keep his argument flowing. Johnson highlights numerous Socratic principles, most notably the separation of the body and soul, Socrates' devotion to the law (he would not attempt to escape it, even when it meant his own safety), the immorality of revenge, the need to educate women and the corrosive desire to possess things. He notes that Socrates dearly loved Athens and Athenians, enjoyed wandering the streets and engaging people of all sorts in discussions about the meaning of apparently ordinary things. Socrates knew that clarity was essential in human discourse. Johnson also notes that Socrates' use of humor and irony were certain to be lost on many--and were techniques disastrous to his own defense at his trial. The author also points out similarities between ancient Athens and today--e.g., our love/hate relationships with celebrities.

A succinct, useful exploration of life in ancient Athens and of the great philosopher's essential beliefs.

(COPYRIGHT (2011) KIRKUS REVIEWS/NIELSEN BUSINESS MEDIA, INC. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.)